Chemical proportionating apparatus



United States Patent [72] Inventor Charles R. Goodman 206 MinnesotaAve., Lynn Haven, Fla. 32444 [21] App]. No. 747,619

[22] Filed July 25, 1968 [45 Patented Dec. 22, 1970 [54] CHEMICALPROPORTIONATING APPARATUS 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-H. S. LaneAttorney-Mason, Fenwick & Lawrence ABSTRACT: A fluid pressure operatedchemical proportionating apparatus comprising a housing, a mixingchamber formed within said housing, fluid inlet means and a fluid outletmeans connected to said chamber, a chemical supply reservoir incommunication with said chamber, a rotatable impeller having a pluralityof radially extending blades, a baffle plate across said mixing chamberforming in part an impeller passage, said baffle plate being providedwith a suction opening communicating with said chamber, said passageincluding a curved partition concentric to said impeller and forming aboundary for said impeller passage, said passage being in alignment andfluid communication with said inlet means and outlet means, constrictionmeans positioned below said inlet means and within said impeller passageadjacent to said impeller, to increase the velocity and control thedirection of the incoming fluid upon said impeller, an impeller shaftmounted for rotation within said chamber and carrying said impeller, apump assembly operably connected to said impeller, and positioned forcommunication between said chamber and said reservoir, said pumpassembly comprising a cylinder mounted in said housing and extendinginto said reservoir, a siphon tube secured to the base of said cylinderand extending to the bottom of said reservoir, a cylinder passagewaythrough said cylinder communicating with said siphon tube, theconstruction and arrangement being such that fluid entering said inletpasses through said constriction means at high velocity upon saidimpeller to draw through said opening fluid from said mixing chamber andsimultaneously operate said pump to raise fluid from said reservoir andinto said mixing chamber for dispensing through said outlet.

PATENTEDUEBZZIBYG 3,549,048

SHEU 1 BF 2 I ATTORNEYS CHEMICAL PROPORTIONATING APPARATUS Thisinvention relates generally to a dispensing apparatus. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a chemical dispensing orproportionating apparatus under fluid pressure without a loss ineffectiveness due to back pressure at the final dispensing outlet. Thepresent invention is even more closely related to the mixing anddispensing of insecticides, herbicides and fertilizers by the averagehome owner.

Chemical dispensing apparatus are well known in the art and have beenused for a number of years to achieve proportionate dispensing of liquidor solid materials into a fluid stream of either liquid or gas. While anumber of these apparatus have enjoyed varying degrees of commercialsuccess, effective and economical chemical dispensers to proportionatethe chemical into a fluid stream have not been found to be particularlyeffective for consumer use when the ultimate outlet nozzle may produce abackup pressure. Such a backup pressure is frequently found to occurwhen automatic lawn sprinkling systems are incorporated in thedispensing system. This backup pressure frequently has been found tocompletely inhibit dispensing and the operation of the dispenser or elseso lessen the effectiveness of the dispensing operation that theproportions of the chemical in the fluid stream have been substantiallychanged beyond the desired rate.

It is one of the principal objects of the present invention therefore toprovide a dispensing apparatus for chemicals into a fluid stream whichis not adversely affected to an undesirable degree by backup pressurefrom the final dispensing nozzle.

This invention also has as an object the provision of a dispensingapparatus including a novel constriction means to direct an impinginginlet flow upon an impeller for operation of a pump assembly to supplythe chemical to be dispensed.

The present invention also has as an object the provision of a novelimpeller passage with fluid communication to the mixing chamber fordrawing the fluid in the mixing chamber into the impeller passage.

This invention also has as an object the provision of a simple,economical, and yet efficient, chemical proportionator and dispenser foruse by the average person in dispensing insecticides, herbicides,fertilizers, or other chemicals with commonly available equipment suchas the garden hose.

These and other objects will be readily apparent from a careful study ofthe following specification, claims, and drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective view of the assembled chemical proportionator;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view in perspective of the elements forming theproportionator;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view partly broken away taken along thelines 33 of FIG. 1, and illustrating the constriction in the impellerpassageway and the impeller, along with the opening in the baffle plateinto the impeller passage;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view partly broken away, and

- taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view partly broken away of the wormmechanism and the shape of the impeller passage; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged elevational view partly broken away taken alongthe lines 6-6 of FIG. 4, and illustrating in detail the pump assembly.

Referring to the drawings, numeral 10 generally depicts the chemicalproportionating apparatus to of the present invention. This apparatus ofthe present invention includes a chemical supply reservoir 12 in theform of a large bottle which may be made of any suitable material suchas a polyethylene. Secured to the top of the reservoir 12 as byscrewthreads 14 is the proportionating housing 16 best shown in FIG. 2.The housing includes a cover 18 which is secured to the side in anysuitable manner as by screws 20. The housing is closed on all sidesexcept for the inlet 22 which may be a female hose coupling secured inany conventional manner to lip 24 (see FIG. 3) forming the inlet of thehousing 16. In the same plane as the inlet, the outlet 26 is providedwhich has screwthreads at 28 for attachment of other conduits such as agarden hose for a lawn sprinkler system or the like. The inlet 22 may beconnected to any suitable water inlet either directly to the valvefaucet fitting or through a hose attachment shown in phantom lines inFIG. 1.

The housing 16 and the cover 18 may both be formed of a molded plasticsuch as the common ABS material frequently used for its wearing andstability characteristics. The interior of the housing 16 is providedwith an impeller passage 30 as shown in FIG. 3. This impeller passage isformed in part by a baffle plate 32 which blocks off a portion of theinterior of the housing and fits snugly up against the lip 34 in thehousing which is in intimate contact with a rim portion of the baffleagainst which it rests. The impeller passage 30 is also formed from theside and bottom of the housing 16 which is curved at 36 to reduceturbulence in the passage as the fluid flows through the passage. On theupper side of the impeller passage is a curved partition 38 which issubstantially concentric with the curvature of the housing at 36. Inletand outlet partitions 40 and 42 integral with the curved portion 38 areprovided to direct the fluid through the proportionating apparatus.

One of the unique aspects of the present invention is the inclusion of aconstriction means 44, best shown in FIG. 3. This constriction is formedin part from an enlargement 46 of the housing wall 16 to extend part wayinto the impeller passage. The enlargement is further unique in that itsupper surface upstream and remote from the impeller chamber 48 has aflat surface 50, while the under surface downstream which forms aboundary for the impeller chamber 48 is provided with a rounded orcurved portion 52. In effective opposed relationship to the enlargement46 is an extension of the curved partition 38 beyond the inlet partition40 forming a bulbous extension 54 which has both curved upper and lowersurfaces.

The baffle plate 32 is provided with an opening 56 which establishesfluid communication between the impeller chamber 48 in the impellerpassage and the chamber 58.

Rotatively positioned within the impeller passage 30 and the impellerchamber 48 is an impeller 60 mounted for rotation on a shaft 62 suitablyjoumaled in bearings 64 and 66 in the cover and housing, respectively.The impeller is conventionally con structed with suitably curved blades68 radially extending from the body of the impeller. The body of theimpeller is elongated along the shaft to form an integral worm gear 70which is operatively connected to a wonn wheel 72.

As can be seen from the exploded illustration in FIG. 2, the baffleplate 32 is secured in place by a plurality of baffle supporting orpositioning tubes 74 which provide a tight fit in openings 75 forprojecting pins 76 located on the cover 18. As best shown in FIG. 5, theworm gear passes through the baffle plate 32 at the aperture 77.

The worm wheel 72 and the worm gear 70 operate within the chamber 58 andserve to operate the pump assembly 78.

The worm wheel 72 is secured to a rotatable shaft 80 suitably joumaledin bearing blocks 82 held in place between the cover 18 and the baffleplate 32 by the tubes 74. Also, rotating with the worm wheel 72 is'theflywheel 84 having a connecting arm 86 eccentrically pivoted on pivotpin 88. The opposite end of the connecting arm 86 is pivotally connectedat 90 to the piston 92 which reciprocates within the pump cylinder 94.The piston 92 is of the pass-through type having a ball check valve 96adapted to fit in valve seat 98 and close piston passageway 100. Theball is prevented from being removed from the piston by ball retainer102 having suitable passageways therethrough to permit the flow offluid. O-ring 104 provides the sealing means between the piston and thecylinder 94. Resilient means in the form of helical spring 106 urges thepiston in an upward position and is bottomed on ball retainer 108 whichcontains ball check valve.ll0. Ball valve seat 112 cooperates with theball valve to block passageway 114 to prevent backflow.

As best shown in FIG. 6, the pump cylinder 94 is extended to formpassageway 114 which depends substantially into the supply reservoir 12.A flexible tube of conventional type such -26. The reservoir 12 isfilled with a conventional liquid fertilizer or other chemicalasdesired. Many of these conventional liquid fertilizers are presentlyon the commercial market, and the present device will operatesuccessfully with the known types. As the fluid flows through the inletand reaches the constriction 44, the shape and configuration of theconstriction being unique substantially increases the velocity of theflow of water without undue turbulence and directs it upon the curvedradial blades 68 of the impeller 60. As the impeller rotates due to theforce direction of the flow of water, the worm wheel and worm gear willrotate along with flywheel 84 to reciprocate the connector arm 86 whichin turn reciprocates the piston 92 in the pump assembly 78. Uponreciprocation, sufficient suction will be created in the cylinder 94 sothat the liquid L in the reservoir will rise up through 116 and upon asufficient number of reciprocations, the liquid will pass through thepiston 92 and into the chamber 58.

The liquid L will be sucked out through opening 56 in the bafile plate32 and into the impeller passage 30 and be moved along with the rapidflow through the passageway out through outlet 26 in a uniformhomogeneous mixture ready for application to the crops or grass.

It is one of the unique features of the present invention that becauseof the unique construction of the impeller passage and the constrictionmeans that with backup pressure that may occur downstream of the outlet26 will not prevent the operation of the chemical proportionatingapparatus since the velocity and direction of the inlet flow through theconstriction will impinge upon the impeller forcing the impeller tooperate. As long as theimpelleroperates, the piston 92 will function andprovide adequate flow of the chemical to the chamber 58.

Another feature of the present invention is that the amount of liquid Ldispensed into the mixing chamber and therefore mixed with the flow ofwater through the impeller passage depends upon the speed of rotation ofthe impeller which, in turn, is dependent upon the volume of flowthrough the inlet 22. Therefore, there is an automatic dispensing of theliquid L which should be uniform whether the volume of flow through theinlet is great or small.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be-evident that thereare a number of changes, adaptations, and modifications of the presentinvention which come within the province of the those skilled in theart; however, it is intended that all such variations not departing fromthe spirit of the invention be considered as within the scope thereof.

'lclaim: l. A fluid pressure operated chemical proportionating apparatuscomprising a housing, a chamber formed within said housing, fluid inletmeans and a fluid outlet means connected to said chamber, a chemicalsupply reservoir in communication with said chamber, a rotatableimpeller having a plurality of radially extending blades, a baffle plateacross said chamber forming in part an impeller passage, said batfleplate being provided with a suction opening communicating with saidchamber, said passage including a curved partition concentric to saidimpeller and forming a boundary for said impeller passage, said passagebeing in alignment and fluid communication with said inlet means andoutlet means, constriction means positioned below said inlet means andwithin said impeller passage adjacent to said impeller, saidconstriction means comprising an enlargement of the wall of said housingon one side of said impeller passage, and a bulbous extension of saidcurved partition on the opposite side of said impeller passage, saidenlargement having a flat upstream surface remote from said impeller,and a curved downstream surface said bulbous extension having bothcurved upstream and downstream surfaces to increase the velocity andcontrol the direction of the incoming fluid upon said impeller, animpeller shaft mounted for rotation within said chamber and carryingsaid impeller, a pump assembly operably connected to said shaft andpositioned for communication between said chamber and said reservoir,said pump assembly comprising a cylinder mounted in said housing andextending into said reservoir, a siphon tube secured to the base of saidcylinder and extending to the bottom of said reservoir, a cylinderpassageway through said cylinder communicating with said siphon tube,the construction and arrangement being such that fluid entering saidinlet passes through said constriction means at high velocity upon saidimpeller to draw through said opening fluid from said chamber andsimultaneously operate said pump to raise fluid from said reservoir andinto said chamber for dispensing through said outlet.

2. The proportionating apparatus of claim 1 wherein said opening is atthe base of the housing adjacent thelower path of travel of said blades.and located between the inlet and outlet to said passage.

3. The proportionating apparatus of claim 1 wherein said shaft has aworm gear extending into the interior of said chamber, and a worm wheelengaging said worm gear, a worm wheel shaft mounted for rotationtransverse to said impeller shaft, a flywheel secured to said worm wheelshaft and eccentrically positioned connector arm pivotally connected atone end to said flywheel.

4. The proportionating apparatus of claim 3 including a ball check valvepositioned near the base of said cylinder, a lower ball retainerpositioned above said ball valve, a piston mounted for reciprocalmovement within said chamber, a piston passageway throughsaid piston, apiston ball valve positioned in the throat of said piston passageway,said piston including a ball retainer at the top of said piston toretain said ball valve when unseated, resilient means between saidpiston and said lower ball retainer and pivot means secured to the topof said piston and operatively connected to said other end of saidconnector arm.

